[ the computer display earns a slightly curious look, but no comment; she'll either get no answer or too much answer if she asks, depending on silva's mood, and she's not interested enough to receive a computer science lecture on whatever-it-is.

sévérine sits poised on her chair as silva vanishes and reappears, her legs crossed gracefully—not quite on her guard, but close—and although she takes the wineglass when it's offered, she hasn't touched the wine. instead, she taps one plum-colored nail on the base of the glass, humming quietly to herself before responding. ]

I'm—not sure.

I think our sources may have been misinformed about the board, and the original plan wasn't going to work.

[ it would have been nice, for instance, if someone had mentioned that the heads of the pan-american and asia-pacific divisions loathed each other before she'd started talking to them both. and she certainly hadn't been told that the vice president for development and corporate strategy was either clinically dead or completely uninterested in women, judging by his total lack of reaction to her overtures. which was a shame, because her initial plan had him on her side.

she'd managed to get a majority of the board to deal with her eventually, but only just barely—and only after some very abrupt course correction in the middle of their meetings. ]

I had a backup plan, but I needed more time than I had to put it into action.